'They're Huge!' Spurs' Gregg Popovich Praises Magic Defense
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The Orlando Magic held off the San Antonio Spurs 108-98 on Wednesday night. Victor Wembanyama recorded five blocks, but his defensive efforts were no match for Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, who both scored at least 20 points.
The Magic have been lauded all season for their defensive chops. So far this season, they allow only 110.9 points per game, the fifth-best in the NBA. Perhaps no praise comes greater than that of Gregg Popovich, who coached defensive legends Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, and David Robinson during his time as the head coach for the Spurs.
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If anyone knows good defense, it's Popovich, and he seemed enamored by the group Jamahl Mosley put forward.
"They're (Magic) huge," said Popovich. "They're strong, they're big. We're talking about 6-9, 6-10, 6-11 guys that are athletic. Just really impressive. Their bodies and how they move and Coach Mosley has done a great job with them. They're playing the right way, they're sharing the basketball, playing with pace, and their defense put us in a hole. They really picked up their defense there in the third quarter. That's always when it gets real physical like that it's a bit of a problem for us."
The Spurs were held to 29 percent shooting from deep and only 45 percent shooting from the floor and were forced into 17 turnovers. Orlando didn't shoot much better, but they took care of the rock a bit better, with 15 turnovers.
While there is no question that Wembanyama is an elite defender, his individual effort was no match for the team defense provided by Jonathan Isaac, Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, and Paolo Banchero.
The Magic got the best of the Spurs and will need to play well on both sides of the ball if they want to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
